NPD Responses: Microsoft Highlights Third-Party Strength

Author: by Staff

Responding to Thursday's NPD U.S. game sales numbers for April 2009, Microsoft highlighted third-party game sales of $98 million for the month, "a key measure of platform health" and beating the Wii and PlayStation 3. Overall, the company conceded that Xbox 360 U.S. retail sales were 175,000 units, a dip of 7 percent compared with a year earlier. However, it argued that "April 2008 saw the release of the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV, significantly boosting Xbox 360 sales this time last year." The company noted that Xbox 360 sales were up 28 percent year-on-year in the first four months of 2009, "the highest growth of any console this year", as Xbox 360 games claimed four of the top 10 console titles, including The Godfather II, Resident Evil 5, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Metallica. Continuing its war with Sony on Metacritic, Microsoft commented that "Xbox 360 is also home to the most top-rated games of any current-generation console, with 139 titles earning a score of 80 or above on Metacritic, while no other console has even 100 such titles." Finally, the firm offered no major additions to its Xbox Live statistics, but did note that popular game add-ons in April included the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack and Resident Evil 5 Versus Mode add-on.